so i spent my morning walk trying to foment in my own mind why i am the way i am. since it's a political season, let's start off with that.
almost every friend of mine leans to the left. i'll leave trying to figure out their justification for that stance for another time. for now, i'm going to stick to explaining my beliefs to myself (and whoever gives a shit enough to read on, i guess)
some personal tenets:
1) a gradual erosion of our values and morals is the primary contributing factor to our downfall as a country.
2) american morals are inexorably linked to religion, which creates an inherent challenge in moving forward.
3) redistribution of wealth, an additional contributing factor, creates a co-dependency that belies government's true intention.
4) selflessness, paired with an individualist nature, once commonplace, has become a rarity.
so let's begin. our children are bombarded with messages each day, from the media, through us as parents, at school via teachers, which reinforce an attitude of selfishness and self-serving nature. american children do not know true poverty. taken at face value, this is a positive: unfortunately, they are not taught to appreciate their circumstances, nor to value the loss which can invariably occur in life.
in the past, religion has glued our nation together. i'm not stating this as a positive fact necessarily, but it is a fact. our forefathers came here, killed the previous inhabitants and established this country in order to have the freedom to practice religion.. not to abnegate it. other cultures around the world received their "right and wrong" elsewhere; but we are not japan, nor will we ever be. america is poised to descend into a polarized squabble because the stasis of religion leaves no room for debate or -- no pun intended -- evolution: either you believe or you do not. where do godless americans receive their morals and values from? i would submit that, by and large, their upbringing and this culture does not and cannot take them into account: they are raised playing amoral video games and enjoying amoral entertainment and desensitized to the point where "anything goes". promiscuity and violence become a natural outlet of an upbringing exposed to their adulation. do i have the answer? no. do i believe the relativists have it figured out? hell no.
on the fiscal front, many believe in "paying their fair share" to support our american infrastructure. this mindset misinterprets and sullies the american dream. the point of being american is to be an individual who achieves a great deal and gives back. taxes are not now and have never been altruistic. when you are taxed, you may look at the number on your return and feel better about yourself (comrade), but you haven't given anyone anything and you aren't entitled to satisfaction. your government has taken from you, which is an entirely different notion. there is no personal oversight on the money that's been taken from you: you have no idea where those hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands are going, nor do you have any control. this markedly un-american concept has become the new norm: instead of giving, we prefer to have it taken away from us. and as soon as that shift in thought occurred, we gave our freedom away (and barring another revolution we'll never get it back). this is one reason i consider myself a "right winger": i don't want the government stealing from me. i would promote and endorse a return to a nation where one might give the same amount or more, but freely of oneself. if you're laughing at that sentiment, you have brushed the surface of the grim, cynical reality of the american machine we find ourselves in today.
and lastly, our freedom has extended past responsibility. we are free from everything, including morals (fed by religion), which unfortunately means we're free from nothing. we outsource our entire country out of greed until where we are no longer self-sustaining: we have become subservient to our servants around the globe. and if you think that is a sustainable future, you might want to pick up a history book.
